~ A site for my creative writing endeavors, writing prompt responses, and experimentation.

Money Laundering

I did my taxes. As a natural procrastinator I had managed to put off the ordeal for weeks. My first full year as a full-time writer and, frankly, I was afraid to look at my income, or more accurately, my lack of income. I had been told that writing doesn’t pay well; it turns out I may be eligible for food stamps.

Convincing myself that I needed to be more productive I did what all procrastinators do – I got hyperproductive. Washed the pots and pans and put the dishes in the dishwasher; gathered up the clothes and put them in the washing machine; primped my ride; opened up the electronic tax filing software and put in all my numbers. All concurrently.

The interesting thing about not having a salary-paying job is that it still takes a long time to fill out the tax forms. Each page, each prompt, each new entry adds or subtracts to the running totals in the corner of the screen; in my case the numbers largely stood still. Long story short, I somehow got a whopping $10 federal refund, though that was cancelled out by the tax software fee. The state? All that estimated tax I paid would be refunded to me, only to be immediately sent back to the state for next year’s estimated taxes. A wash.

It’s done. Now to do what doing my taxes had helped me avoid – writing the next book.

[Note to IRS: The title is creative only; it does not suggest I actually laundered money while doing my taxes. Just wanted to make sure that was clear.]